Portland Plan maps out the long-term future for a growing, diverse community

This is a historic moment in Portland, and we're excited to be a part of it. Tonight the Portland City Council will hear from dozens of community members and Portland's public agency leaders about a new plan for our city. As members of the Planning and Sustainability Commission, we have collectively volunteered hundreds of hours listening to public testimony and incorporating that input into a plan that will guide our city for the next 25 years.

The Portland Plan will prepare us for our growing and increasingly diverse population and address some of Portland's most pressing challenges, including income disparities, high unemployment, a low high school graduation rate, and human and environmental health concerns. With staff and the community, we worked together to understand and tackle these challenges through an integrated, holistic approach.

While the PSC claims some pride over the Portland Plan, the reality is that many other people, nonprofit agencies and community organizations should feel pride of ownership, too. More than 20 of Portland's key public agencies, including all the public school districts, Multnomah County, TriMet, Portland State University, Portland Community College, the Portland Development Commission, the Port of Portland, and many business and community groups all played key roles in shaping the plan.

As members of the PSC, we understand it's not always easy to see how sidewalks relate to education, prosperity, equity and health, yet they have huge impacts on one another. Cities are large, complex systems that need structure and direction to function efficiently, but we must constantly remind ourselves of our shared objectives and recognize the relationships that exist between the individual pieces.

Focus on making Portland more affordable with more equitable access to services and civic infrastructure.

Accommodate a more diverse future population.

Tie everything together by linking neighborhood centers and providing connections for people and wildlife.

But the key word is equity.

It has been more than 30 years since Portland completed its last citywide plan. Since then our city has grown by more than 200,000 people and expanded by 23,000 acres. Portland will continue to grow and change in the decades ahead, bringing vibrancy, diversity, opportunity and jobs to our community. The Portland Plan reflects this unique place and provides a path for making it an even better place for the people who live and work here.

If we continue to work together -- as we have done as a community to craft the Portland Plan -- we will achieve our goal of a prosperous, educated, healthy and equitable Portland.

André Baugh, Gary Oxman and Howard Shapiro are members of the Planning and Sustainability Commission. The Portland Plan is scheduled to be presented to the City Council at 6 p.m. today.